Misplaced protection (From Craven Herald)

Misplaced protection

9:27am Thursday 5th January 2012 in Letters

Sir – I have looked on with disbelief at the actions of Prime Minister David Cameron to veto an attempt to forge improvements to the European Union by its members.

His excuse? To protect the London-based financial sector, which has been exploiting Britain’s one leg in, one leg out position on Europe for years. That this makes up ten per cent of our GDP is given as his reason.

My answer is what about the other 90 per cent of our economy? Is that not worthwhile of consideration?

This is what will suffer, when an isolated ‘rowing boat’ Britain takes to the competitive seas alone.

The much-vaunted ‘special relationship’ with a now-bankrupt USA (which, if you remember, would not enter the Second World War until after Japan bombed its Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbour) will be little, if any, use.

So in one act of treachery, we have undermined the attempts of our allies in Europe to forge a better Union and have a say in its formation. The economies of Portugal, Greece and Ireland have been attacked by overseas financial speculators resulting in their bankruptcy, which has led to the EU crisis.

Rating agencies are being used to bring into question the economies of France, Holland etc to undermine any remaining stability of the European flagship.

Our elected leadership is at fault, playing on values harking back to our old imperialistic past which are now increasingly threadbare and outdated in a modern world of trans-global companies.

Roger Bell, Gargrave